The Animus Curse
by PuppyLuvr06
Summary: Young IceWing animus Frostbite is the first of animus blood to appear in centuries. What does fate have in store for him? It's sequel is The Deadly Dragonet. Rated T for possible violence.
1. Prologue

(NOTE: all throughout this story, I will use ' to represent thought since it doesn't look like it auto-italics it.)

Blizzard's IceWing scales glittered in the open moonlight, making her feel a little obvious against the snow, though she didn't know why she felt like that. Her scales were the same light blueish color as the snow, and it shimmered just as her scales did under the light of the moons.

She impatiently watched the egg in front of her, waiting for it's father to show up. It's going to hatch soon, I can feel it, She thought, getting up to pace around the silvery-blue egg. It was hers, but she would love it if her mate, Hail, actually bothered to show up for the dragonet's hatching. Blizzard understood he was one of Queen Glacier's best soldiers, but that didn't mean he had to miss his own son's hatching. But they did have a arranged marriage, since both Hail and Blizzard were of high class and noble heritage.

'Sometimes I wish I didn't obey my queen,' she thought, then immediately regretting it. 'What am I thinking? Hold yourself together, Blizzard. Things like that get you killed, She shivered though she felt quiet warm, or worse, in the Fifth Circle…'

Suddenly a movement came from the egg, and almost on cue, a male IceWing swept across the open plains of snow to stand beside Blizzard.

"Is it hatching yet?" He asked, sounding not the least bit amused, more like he didn't even care if it would ever even scratch the surface of the eggshell.

"Hail, where have you been?" Blizzard asked, sitting back down and examining him.

"Queen Glacier requested something of me," he said simply, almost like he had practiced the line over and over again, the same way that made Blizzard wish she had the heart to see his pale blue blood scattered across the ground near his limp body. "Is serving my queen a problem for you?"

This almost set Blizzard off, but she bite back her strong urge to whack him with her tail. "No, but it would be nice if you seemed to care for your family." She said instead, choosing the words carefully, resisting to include a 'scavengerbrain' at the end.

Hail snorted, looking down at Blizzard. She hated it when he did that, because she felt even smaller compared to him then what she actually was.

They were the same age, but she was still smaller then every other IceWing, even when she was a dragonet. Thus the reason she was on the healing division in the war, instead of being a soldier like everyone else, because she was like a bug who could be stepped on—or how she sees it from her parents, who helped convince Queen Glacier not to make her a soldier, a fragile gem that shouldn't be touched in case it broke.

'Fragile,' Blizzard repeated in her mind like she always did when she thought of it. 'Fragile things don't save lives by the dozen. Fragile things don't—'

There was a movement coming from the egg that stopped Blizzard's train of thought, which soon crashed into the abyss she called her mind.

"It's hatching," she said, realizing how stupid she sounded, as she crouched closer to the egg. "Come on, little guy." She said in a soft voice to the egg. "We aren't going to hurt you, only here to teach you IceWing traditions and rules." Blizzard smiled warmly, lightly scratching at the egg to help the dragonet as she whispered: "We're your parents."

Hail looked at her disapprovingly. "You don't need to hover over it." He said dully, like always. "It doesn't need you trying to help it. If it's a real IceWing, it can find it's way on it's own."

"You really don't know anything about dragonets, do you?" Blizzard asked, annoyed. Hail seemed to think he knew everything way too much for her liking. But nonetheless, she stepped away from the egg, instead swinging her tail back and forth behind her.

"You look as stupid as a scavenger." Hail said coldly. "Stop waging your tail like a dog."

Blizzard ignored him. It was always easier just to ignore him.

A bit later, the dragonet fully emerged from the egg. His scales were pale blue, much like Blizzard's, though he shared his father's always-looks-like-their-slitted blue eyes. Just by looking at him, she knew he would be normal IceWing sized, meaning he will most likely be taller then Blizzard before he was fully grown.

"Come here, you little dragonet." Blizzard said, stepping a little closer, then picking up the dragonet.

She felt a strange tingle when she held him, and she almost dropped him.

"Very well done, Blizzard." Hail said sarcastically. "Dropping a newborn IceWing, where in the world did you learn that wonderful plan?" He laughed a cold, dark laugh for a moment, sending chills down Blizzard's spine. His voice started to get more teasing. "Scavengers? Birds? No, even better, RainWings?"

Blizzard growled, shoving the dragonet into Hail's talons. "You feel him. Doesn't he feel…different?"

Hail seemed to realize it after she mentioned it. "He's an animus."

…

Blizzard carefully lead the newborn dragonet to Queen Glacier's throne, trying to hurry. Not only did she need to make sure his name was suitable, but also to announce the presence of animus blood still existing after everyone thought it was gone after Prince Arctic was killed. She politely excused herself and her dragonet, though she only got cold stares in return.

Soon she got to the throne room doors, and Blizzard knocked quietly. "May I enter?"

"What are you here for?" A voice asked. Not the queen, a guard of the other side of the door.

"There was hatchings due tonight, and those eggs have hatched, and I'd like a private audience with the queen." Blizzard said, trying to stay as calm as possible.

There was a moment of silence.

"You may enter." The voice said as the door opened.

Blizzard guided the dragonet a little ways in, then as the door behind her closed, bowed to her queen.

"What have you decided on, Blizzard of the Second Circle?" Queen Glacier asked.

"Frostbite," Blizzard responded.

The queen studied the dragonet for a little bit, then looked at Blizzard. "Frostbite was an animus centuries ago that gave us the Gift of Light. Why would you want to name this dragonet after her?"

"My queen," Blizzard began, feeling the dragonet's magic and wishing she could tell her this more secretly. "He's…an animus." Blizzard looked up to see the queen's face light up, and she slithered off her throne to look at the dragonet.

A few moments later, Queen Glacier stared in disbelief at the dragonet, which was know playing with a feather that must've drifted in the throne room by the wind from the last feast.

"He is an animus." Queen Glacier gasped. This was one of the only times Blizzard had ever seen her queen amazed at something, and it looked quiet odd. "But they died out years ago when Prince Arctic died…" She looked up a little bit at Blizzard. "His father must've been of royal blood. This changes…a lot…" She went back to her throne, and shook off any sign of being surprised. "Very well, his name is Frostbite."

"Queen Glacier, there's something else."

"What?"

"I am afraid of the animus curse. This will change his future—possibly even all of Pyrrhia. It's a lot of pressure for a young dragonet."

"The animus curse means nothing. We have found a way to prevent it. But there is something I request, in return for bringing animus dragons back into our tribe."

'If they ever left,' Blizzard thought. "Of course, my queen."

"When they become of age, your dragonet and my daughter must marry and fully return animus dragons to the royal family. But that is all."

"Yes, my queen. Anything to please my ancestors, and you."

Then Queen Glacier gestured Blizzard and Frostbite out, and they moved along. Blizzard needed to start planning how to raise an animus, and quickly.


	2. Chapter 1

Frostbite flew through the cold sky near the palace. He, along with his best friend, Kori, were going on a hunting trip with Princess Snowfall (whom he was arranged to marry, one thing he wished he could've decided for himself) and her uncle, Narwhal.

"Fly faster!" Narwhal shouted from behind them. "I don't even know how your staying in the air!"

"So says the dragon who's behind us." Kori pointed out, just quietly enough for only Frostbite and Snowfall could hear. Frostbite dared to laugh a little, then sped up.

Time to be serious, He told himself as he dived, shouting "I'll search here! You two go on ahead!" And then added shortly after: "Make sure no royal talons are stubbed!"

"Hey!" Snowfall said. Frostbite knew she wanted to protest, but didn't with the presence of her uncle.

Frostbite ignored what ever comment Narwhal was going to make, or whatever thing Kori was going to do. He had a set goal; he was going to catch something big enough to impress his father.

To a normal IceWing, that probably would sound like a obvious goal, but Frostbite's father, Hail, had very high expectations, especially for him.

"It's because you've been the fifth dragon in the First Circle ever since you were born, no matter how many dragonets raise and fall behind and in front of you." Kori had told him when he talked to her about it.

"Because you're an animus." His mother always tried to convince him, but in a good-willed way, opposite of when he asked his father, which was the same words but said much more bitterly.

"The same reason I have to marry you." Snowfall had said. No matter what they had to end up doing, Frostbite was glad he wasn't the only one that didn't want to marry someone he barely even liked.

He decided to change the subject, and focus on his surroundings.

Pine trees spotted the freshly fallen snow, and caves were scattered across the mountain side. Frostbite could actually see a tiny bit of Claws of the Clouds Mountain, then looked back to where he was now. He slowly stalked through the snow, trying to make as little noise as possible.

A tiny peep told him that there was a baby bear somewhere. He turned around to see a cub, probably only a few months old, toying with a twig. It clumsily poked itself with it as it moved the stick around to examine it.

Frostbite took his chance and started stalking over to it, making sure he was low enough in the snow not to be seen. When he was close enough, he pounced. The baby bear struggled as it tried to fight back, slashing it's tiny claws near Frostbite's chest.

This thing might actually know some survival skills, He thought. I'm impressed. But he quickly finished it off with a swift movement of his tail, picked the limp animal up, and started his way to a cave he can put it until he knew he was fully ready to head back to the palace. Frostbite tried to stay unseen, but it apparently didn't work.

"Frostbite!" Kori's voice yelled from above him, moments before something roared and he fell to his back. Kori gasped as she flew down to help Frostbite.

"Don't," he said, stopping her from flying any closer to him. He knew there was a bear bigger then him pinning him down, but if something were to happen to him, at least someone can live to tell his mother what happened to him. "If you can, find Narwhal."

"You're biting off more then you can chew, scavengerbrain." Kori pointed out, but flew away.

The bear roared once more and swiped it's claws at Frostbite, which he tried to dodge and nearly did.

"You must be that cub's mother then, huh?" Frostbite said, forcing a fake laugh. As if bears can understand dragons, He thought. Smooth job, Frostbite. Be born with the worst gift ever, then not be able to help your tribe with it. I really am a scavengerbrain.

What am I doing? Frostbite asked himself. I should be fighting back, not proving I'm everything my father says and thinks about me.

On instinct, he lashed out his claws. Who knows, maybe all of the Ice Kingdom will watch him take down a bear—or watch him get eaten alive by it…

The bear was off-guard enough that Frostbite could flick his ice-spiked tail at the bear. It staggered off of him, and when it opened it's mouth to roar again, he used his frost breath and killed it.

"Your alive!" A voice said from behind him, none other then Kori's. It was followed by Narwhal's grunt that seemed to say the same thing, just a lot less enthusiastically. "You stupid idiot scavengerbrain of a dragon!"

One thing about Kori: she normally used normal insults as compliments, especially when she's happy. She play-pounced on Frostbite while Narwhal and Snowfall followed a lot slower.

"Hm, I wonder what would've happened if you died." Snowfall thought out loud. Surprisingly, Narwhal seemed more interested in what he had killed then what Snowfall had said.

"Looks like somebody is going to feast with the queen tonight." He said. Everyone fell silent in shock.

"Queen Glacier?" Frostbite asked, as if he had more then one queen. "Me? Tonight? Really?"

"Yes." Narwhal said. "Her Majesty was feeling generous, so whoever caught the most ate it with the queen. Along with her and your family, of course." He looked over at Frostbite's catch. "Princess Snowfall, would you help him carry the cub? You caught barely anything yourself, so you might as well help Frostbite with his."

Snowfall probably wanted to object, but knew better not to.

"I'll go get mine." Kori said, bolting off.

"You have until sunset!" Narwhal yelled after her, then took off, not caring to look back to see if Snowfall and Frostbite followed him.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Frostbite said, then darted after Kori. Something about how she ran off felt suspicious.

"Idiot," he heard Snowfall mutter as he got farther away.

"Sorry, Princess Snowfall!" He apologized, not looking back.


	3. Chapter 2

Frostbite was well aware how Snowfall would probably just ignore his apology and storm back to the palace, but he didn't quiet know if he cared right now.

It was a lot harder to catch up with Kori then what he thought it would, but when he got there, she was cautiously looking around. Frostbite ducked behind a snow mound so then he wouldn't be seen, but he could still see her. Even though almost every IceWing looked like the snow, didn't mean they didn't know what was snow or their fellow tribe member. Then Kori dipped into the icy waters that met the ocean.

'What is she doing?' Frostbite wondered. 'Maybe she's looking for a narwhal or going farther out to sea to catch a penguin…no, because she said she already caught her share. Then where is she going? Wait, why aren't I minding my own business?' But then the other half of him wanted to argue with: 'I should wait to see when she comes back. Which he did, in fact, end up doing. '

…

Hours later, Frostbite was starting to wonder if Kori had drowned or something until her blue head popped out of the water. She looked around once more, then pulled a large fish out of the water with her.

'Strange, every IceWing I know—which is kinda everyone—doesn't like fish. Wonder why Kori decided to get that.' Frostbite thought. 'Maybe she doesn't intend to share.' But under closer inspection, as she walked past him with the fish in her mouth, it didn't look like any fish he's seen. More like a description a very, very, very nervous SandWing might describe when talking about a battle in the Kingdom of Sea, or a SeaWing captive when fantasizing about what they ate at their home instead of what little leftovers were left after the IceWings ate that was thrown at them in the dungeon. At least, that's where Frostbite assumed their food came, because IceWings weren't soulless like that.

Everyone knows the tribe that eats nothing but dragonets for dinner and let their prisoners starve were the NightWings.

'Maybe I should tell Queen Glacier…' Frostbite thought, bursting into the air moments after Kori would be far enough from him not to hear him. 'I know she probably listens to me as much as her advisors—and I'm still a dragonet.' Then he forced himself to get to the truth for that, 'because I'm an animus. We haven't had animus dragons in so long their either counted genetic freaks of nature or things worthy of more praise then the queen.'

He quickly found the mother bear he'd killed earlier that day. It was almost sunset now, so he knew he had to hurry back to the palace. He made a brief scan to make sure Snowfall didn't actually stay behind for him, which he highly doubted, and saw she was not there. Then he grabbed his bear and unsteadily flew over to the palace.

…

Frostbite soon stood in the feasting hall of the queen. Queen Glacier was sitting on a tiny throne (still as pretty and ice-carved as her normal one, of course) on the end of the table farthest from the door, while he sat on the other side of Snowfall. He felt kind of uncomfortable sitting so close to the dragon he had to marry, and barely even knew. But he knew better then to reject his queen's request or to argue with her reasoning, though it was quite tempting in times like this.

His mother, Blizzard, sat on his left side, being a buffer between him and his father, Hail, as always. She was a little over protective and cared too much for Frostbite—at least for his opinion, anyway. But it was better then his father, which was the exact opposite. He didn't seem to care what Frostbite did, he sometimes even figured that he could fall into the animus curse and kill his queen and Hail still wouldn't care to even look at him, nonetheless feel any kind of emotion while doing so.

'He would just end my life, then move on with his.' Frostbite thought. 'Because I mean nothing to him. I still have yet to see him have any emotion at all.'

Soon enough, a ice-instrument band started playing in a corner of the room as servants came in with the bears Frostbite caught, bowing to everyone they saw—even the musicians.

He recognized them. They were dragons in the Fifth Circle, that he only met once while strolling through the village without his father's permission (which his mother was fine with, so it wasn't really against IceWing rules). Although he couldn't quite remember their names.

"Queen Glacier," one of the servants said as they sat the food on the long table. "Princess Snowfall, guests, dinner is served." Then all of them backed away into the place where they came out of. But another servant soon came back in and gave everyone their share.

"Wonderful catch, Frostbite of the Dragonet First Circle." Queen Glacier said, not really looking at him other then a slight glance. Beside him, Blizzard smiled gratefully as though the queen's compliment to her son was a compliment to herself, and a very high one at that.

"He's trained hard," Blizzard said. "Despite his…differences…"

'That's one way to think of it,' Frostbite thought, knowing she meant his animus powers.


	4. Chapter 3

All throughout dinner, Frostbite wanted to share what he saw Kori do, though he also wanted a private talk with the queen so then his father couldn't ban him from his friend if the queen wasn't worried about it. Of course, he would be banned from seeing Kori if the queen thought it was suspicious, so it didn't really matter.

It was near dessert when he decided to make his move.

"Queen Glacier," he finally said, pushing back his chair a little. "May I request a private audience? It's about my friend… I'm concerned for her." Frostbite was well aware of his father stiffening, as if it suddenly concerned him.

"Your friend?" He repeated in a low hiss, quiet enough that Queen Glacier might not have heard it.

She did.

"Hail, calm yourself." She said smoothly, as if it was a daily matter. "Please. At the presence of your son you act even dumber then a newborn, it's quite tiring. Let him speak." Hail nodded and Queen Glacier looked over at Frostbite. "Your request is accepted; we shall speak after dinner."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Frostbite said.

…

"Come," Queen Glacier said to Frostbite after dinner. Frostbite nodded, but his mother pulled him back.

"What, Mother?" Frostbite asked annoyedly.

"Respect your elders, first of all." Blizzard snapped. "Now come over here so then I can smooth your ice spikes."

Frostbite let his mother mess with his ice spikes as he heard Snowfall giggle. He gave her a cold glare for a moment before his mother let him go.

"Moons, stop treating him like both of you are stupid RainWings." Hail scolded. "He's an IceWing not a stupid, lazy RainWing."

"That is the one thing we agree on." Frostbite said as he started his way to the room him and the queen agreed to meet at, as it was one of the only rooms he really knew where it was even though he's lived in the palace all his life.

Hail's growl seemed to echo through the palace, and his words were like icicles that made Frostbite wince. "Ungrateful child of a dumb scavenger. Just as stupid as a pile of rocks. Maybe stupider. Deserves nothing of what he has."

Then he heard Blizzard smack her tail against something, no doubt at Hail. Frostbite tried to ignore the rest of their conversations. It normally just made him feel worse about himself.

'If I could change everything, it would involve my father dying long before I hatched, my mother not being so overprotective, not being an animus, not having to marry Princess Snowfall, and maybe other countless things,' Frostbite thought as he walked through the long halls of the ice palace.

Soon he reached the room he was looking for. Two guards stood in front of it.

"Who are you?" One asked.

"Frostbite of the Dragonet First Circle." Frostbite said. "I had a re—"

"We know why you're here." The other guard said.

"Oh, sorry." Frostbite said, bowing as he entered the room.

As he expected, Queen Glacier was waiting. Though, he did not expect her to look so friendly and calm.

"What is it, Frostbite?" She asked. She also sounded like she looked, which was something she almost never did in when Frostbite was near enough to hear and see it.

"It's about Kori." He blurted. The queen frowned a little and gestured him to sit down beside her on the ground, next to a beautiful ice sculpture of another IceWing queen. That statue alone made this Frostbite's favorite room, which was the reason he could tell this room apart from every other room in the entire palace.

"What had she done? What makes you concerned for her?" Queen Glacier asked.

Frostbite took a deep breath before continuing, taking the queen's invitation beside her. "I saw her…going into the ocean. She didn't come back for hours, and I didn't see her stick her head out anywhere. And…she came back with an odd fish—something a SeaWing prisoner would describe."

"Interesting." Queen Glacier said, then thought for a moment and looked at Frostbite. "Thank you for telling my this. I will see that she is contacted immediately." She paused, drifting her eyes to the statue, then back at him. "There is supposed to be a battle with Blister's army soon, but it might just be a coincidence…"

"May I go? To keep a watch on Kori?" Frostbite asked.

"No," Queen Glacier said sternly. "You are our secret weapon, and no one must take that power away from us. I will keep track of her, there is no need to worry."

Frostbite nodded. "Yes, my queen."

"Is that all?" Queen Glacier asked.

"You won't…hurt her, will you? Kori, I mean." Frostbite asked.

"I insure you no IceWing will touch her harmfully. But the battlefield is a dangerous and unpredictable place, one I do not wish to put an animus into." Queen Glacier said, getting up and walking to the door, gesturing for Frostbite to follow. "Thank you again for bringing this topic to my attention. I will see that she is tended to properly." And almost as though she could read Frostbite's mind she added: "Without hurting her."


	5. Chapter 4

(This should be the right chapter.)

It had been a day since his meeting with the queen, but he still couldn't shake off the odd feeling that told him Kori was doing something suspicious. It probably didn't help that he had been avoiding her, since they were best friends and did almost everything together. But almost as if his thoughts summoned her, Kori walked into his room.

"Hey," she said, leaning against the ice walls. "How'd your dinner with the queen go? Did Princess Snowfall look like she wanted to kill somebody? Or was there just a lot of awkward staring and silence?"

"She was fine." Frostbite answered, noting Kori's mood seemed to be a little darker then normal.

"Did you hear we're going into battle with the SeaWings soon?" Kori asked, surprising him with her change of subject.

This is just getting more and more confusing… Frostbite thought. First she's normal, then she comes back from hunting with a fish found in the Kingdom of the Sea, then she comes in here being all dark. More then ever now, he noticed her blue scales. They were darker then IceWing scales, but still not really that dark. It had been her oddity since she was born, with no one knowing who her parents where, though most figured they were low-ranked IceWings no one cared to know who died in the war before her egg hatched. Only she knew who they truly were.

"Yeah, Queen Glacier told me." Frostbite responded finally, after a few moments of silence.

Kori looked at him oddly. "What? When did she tell you that? What did you do to get an audience with the queen?"

"First of all, I'm an animus." Frostbite started, although he never really liked pointing it out. "I have a feeling she'll do anything I ask of her, or tell me anything, no matter how ridiculous it may be because of that. You should know that, Kori."

"Oh, right." Kori said. "Forgot about that very big detail."

"And second, I requested it." Frostbite decided not to share what the audience was about, but Kori looked suspicious.

"What did you tell her?" She said, stepping closer and looking a little bit more menacing. "Who did you talk to her about? Who, Frostbite?"

"I just talked to her." Frostbite lied, then seeing her expression and adding: "No one in particular. The lower ranked, prisoners, SeaWings, SandWings…no names were said." That was the baddest lie Frostbite ever made, though it was one of the only lies he ever made since IceWings aren't supposed to lie to their elders. Though there was a outline of who was talked about, since Kori was lower ranked compared to Frostbite and Queen Glacier. "And then the subject of war came up. She said it was soon, I asked to come, she said no, end of story."

Kori raised an eyebrow. "Really," she said skeptically. "Why don't I believe you?"

Frostbite turned around to face the window instead of his friend, and he heard her hiss at him. "Because it's not true…" He said. "There was someone specifically involved, but not in a bad way, I made sure. Now Kori, please leave me alone. I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm kinda tired, and tonight is the big ball thing that I'm pretty sure I need to be there as much as the queen does since I'm an animus."

"Pfft, just an accuse to avoid the subject." Kori said, then sighed. "Fine. But this isn't over. Next time." Then he could tell she came him a 'I am watching you' gesture, then walked out of the room. Frostbite turned back around and took a deep breath in relief.

I hate to lie to her, but things won't be good if she knows I was talking about her, Frostbite thought. He was tired though, since he's been too worried about Kori to sleep much. So he walked over and laid down on his blankets, which were pastel colored with a lace design, something his mother did for a hobby.

A knock came from the door.

"Who's there?" Frostbite asked, almost half asleep already. He would really enjoy it if someone just had the wrong room, but of course that was the opposite of what it was.

"I'm coming in." Hail said, then burst into the room. He looked around the room, shut the door behind him, and gave Frostbite a disapproving look. "Did the thought of killing keep you up last night?" His voice was mocking and uncaring, only asking to prove how much he didn't care.

"Have we ever decided if you were an animus, Father?" Frostbite asked, looking up at him. "Because I certainly do wonder if sometimes you are and too much of your soul has been chipped away."

Hail growled. "I did not come here to be disrespected by an unworthy dragonet."

"Then why did you come here, Father?" Frostbite asked. When talking to his father, it was easier to share no emotion. Half of what he knows about talking to him came from the advice of his mother, and they learned something new every time they talked to him.

"The ball is in two days." Hail said. "Not tonight."

"Is that all?" It didn't seem that important to interrupt him just for that. And even if it wasn't tonight, he will most like likely be summoned to guard or hunt in a few hours, anyway. He couldn't do either if he was too tired to pay attention, like he almost was now.

"No." Hail said. "Who did you tell the queen about?"

"Why does everyone want to know that?" Frostbite asked.

Hail growled and put his tail against Frostbite's neck. "Tell me or I'll kill you slowly and painfully then throw your body out that window to get lost to a storm so no one finds it."

"You wouldn't…" Frostbite said, already feeling his father's ice spikes brushing across his neck. Of course he will. No matter what I do, because of the animus blood that runs through me, he'll always hate me.

"I will." Hail assured. "Now tell me."

"It was Kori…" Frostbite confessed. "I was worried for her. She was doing strange things, I was afraid she was ill or hurt." That's one way to put that, I guess. Though it's more of what she did, not might have been the cause of it.

"And?" Hail asked, releasing a bit of pressure from his tail.

"Queen Glacier assured me nothing was wrong. But she promised to keep an eye out on her just in case." Frostbite responded.

Hail growled again, stepping back from Frostbite only to whisper something in his ear. "Listen to me, boy. She only listens to you because you're an animus, she only looks up to you because of your power. You are weak. You are useless. You deserve nothing you have." Frostbite had tried to stay as calm as he could, but Hail wasn't finished. "Not even your own life and everyone in it."

That was said colder then the rest, but he also sounded like he believed it. Either way, Frostbite was done.

Despite his tiredness, he managed to pull away from his father and whack him with his talon.

"Weak. Always weak." Hail spat, flicking his tail at Frostbite, knocking the breath out of him, and ending that fight.

"You're…no better…yourself…" Frostbite stammered, trying to find his breath. "You aren't…always loyal to the queen…like you say you are… I… I've seen you…disobey her…"

Hail looked taken aback, but before he could question him any more, they heard another dragon's footsteps and stayed silent. Hail deliberately stepped back from Frostbite and tried to look like he didn't do it, but instead walked in and saw this. Frostbite growled softly at him.

"Frostie? Are you okay in there?" A voice asked. It was Blizzard.

Of course, just to make things worse, the universe decided to summon Mother here. Frostbite looked over to the door, then back at Hail. She's not going to believe anything you tell her, though. She's smart enough to know when an attack was done on purpose or accident, and who committed it.


	6. Chapter 5

Once Blizzard got to the door, she gasped.

"Three moons, what happened here?" She asked, cautiously stepping a bit closer to them and keeping her eyes on Frostbite. Her pale blue eyes looked fearful, and so was her stepping and everything else she was doing. "Did you..?"

'Like I would tell you if I went insane,' Frostbite thought, knowing that's what she meant. "No, Mother." He replied, settling a little bit on his blankets. "Father just came to visit."

Blizzard looked over and seemed to have noticed Hail was in the room, too. "Oh," she said, instinctively moving her tail between Frostbite and Hail. "What are you doing here, oh so lovely arranged mate?" She said 'arranged' more darker then the rest, as if she didn't then it wouldn't make sense for her to speak that way.

'Time to confess, Father. You know she won't take whatever you have as an answer,' Frostbite thought. His father still looked shocked from what he had told him earlier, which was mildly creepy for a dragon who barely showed any emotion at all.

"I simply asked him how his meeting with the queen went." Hail said. It wasn't a complete lie, actually, which is what Frostbite focused on—that he was actually telling some part of the truth.

"Riiiiight," Blizzard said skeptically. "And there just happens to be scratches where an IceWing tail hit Frostbite, too, then?" Frostbite hadn't even noticed his father's tail did much to him, until he looked down and realized there really was scratches near his chest where his father hit him. But he didn't bother making any comment, just stayed silent until they fought it off.

"I taught him a little lesson on respect while I did so." Hail answered.

"Yeah, by threatening my death." Frostbite said. Blizzard looked from Hail to Frostbite unbelievably, and Frostbite nodded. "And I quote: 'tell me or I'll kill you slowly and painfully, then throw your body out that window to get lost to a storm so no one finds it.'"

"You unworthy dragonet," Hail spat. That was a popular phrase he always liked to say when Frostbite proved the awful things he'd done to him and to others, though it still hurt a little inside nonetheless.

"You're the unworthy one." Blizzard corrected, smacking her tail lightly at his head. Everyone knew, no matter how much they hated each other, she would never directly hurt Hail—she was always more of a poison kind of dragon. "Now leave before I call the guards and tell them what you did to the animus."

This seemed to catch Hail's attention, as he quickly left the room as she finished. Blizzard turned back to Frostbite and stepped a bit closer.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yep—as much as I possibly can be, anyway." Frostbite responded.

"I swear, one day I'm going to poison that walking disgrace." Blizzard muttered, but gently put a few blankets over Frostbite like he was a newborn. "Get some rest, I think I saw your name on the night patrol."

"Well, he probably thinks the same way about me," Frostbite pointed out. "Except minus the poison and plus claw-to-claw battle."

"That's what happens when someone's better then him." Blizzard said. "He begins to think everyone is unworthy, so much that he himself does."

"Stupid question alert." Frostbite said.

"Go for it," his mother replied.

"Do you sometimes wish… I wasn't an animus? Do you sometimes wish you never had a dragonet with Hail?" Frostbite asked. It was normally a question that came to mind when him and his mother were alone, as most of what they talked about drifted off to this subject.

Blizzard was silent for a moment, deep in thought. "What makes you think that?" She carefully twined her tail with his. "I love you because you're an animus. And while the thought of the animus curse almost scares me to death, and you're father is…something…being an animus doesn't change anything, probably even you're father's opinions about you."

"Thank you, Mother." Frostbite said. "I think that's all."

Blizzard walked back to the door. "If you need anything, I'll most likely be in the usual place."

"Okay," Frostbite said, and watched as his mother left the room. He contemplated what his mother had told him, although to him it didn't seem like a very reassuring answer.

'That doesn't exactly explain why you thought I went insane, even though you knew I have never used my magic in my life,' Frostbite thought. 'Because of you and all of IceWing rules.'

Frostbite studied his room in the late afternoon light until he could go to sleep.

Not much was in it, except for a desk with some scrolls and bottles of ink and his sleeping pile. But on one wall there was millions of drawings he drew, all from a year ago or older. Most of them consisted of drawings of two IceWings playing together—him and Kori. They were more of best friends then then they were now, saying how now they were doing more battle training and such, which normally purposely separated friends. Sometimes they were playing, sometimes they were fighting, sometimes they were merely just flying with each other.

Frostbite soon drifted into sleep, into one of the memories that inspired one of the drawings…

…

Frostbite was only one, although he was already half the size of his mother. He didn't quite know where he was going, but he somehow found himself in the peasant villages outside of the castle.

"How does the palace supply everyone? Does it magically grow to suit the needs of all it's inhabitants?" Frostbite asked his mother, who was walking beside him.

"I don't know." His mother replied. "That's a good question. Maybe you should ask your father or the queen."

"Daddy's scary," Frostbite said. "He doesn't like me, so I'm not gonna asked him. And Queen Glacier might know, but I don't think she'll tell me. Too busy with the war."

"Step right up and hear the tale that will save us all!" An IceWing near a vendor said.

"Ooo, a story! Mommy, can we stay and listen?" Frostbite asked.

His mother giggled. "Sure, Frostie."

Then they sat near the vendor, and as the IceWing got ready, more and more dragonets started coming, some with their parents, some by themselves.

"The Dragonet Prophecy…" The IceWing started. "'When the war has lasting twenty years, the dragonets will come. When the land is soaked in blood and tears, the dragonets will come. Find the SeaWing egg of deepest blue, Wings of Night shall come to you. The largest egg in mountain high, will give you the Wings of Sky. For the Wings of Earth, search through the mud for an egg the color of dragon blood. And hidden alone from the rival queen's, the SandWing egg waits unseen. Of the three queen's who blister and blaze and burn two shall die and one shall learn if she bows to a fate that is stronger and higher, she'll have the power of Wings of Fire. Five eggs to hatch on the Brightest Night, five dragons to end the fight. Darkness will rise to bring the light. The dragonets are coming...'"

A sea-blue scaled dragon poked her head up from the crowd.

"I have a question!" She announced. "Why couldn't Burn, Blister, and Queen Blaze just have a SandWing-to-SandWing fight? Why include the rest of Pyrrhia? When they could simply just ruin their own territory?"

"That…" The IceWing began, but didn't finish.

Frostbite looked up at his mother. "Hey, Mommy, do you think my animus gift could be to end all wars in Pyrrhia, forever? And make it so then no more wars can start?"

"That seems a little overworking, doesn't it? What would happen to your soul after that?" His mother asked.

"Good question," he answered.

The odd-scaled IceWing who spoke up looked at Frostbite. "You're an animus?"

Frostbite looked at her, smiling. "Yep! I'm Frostbite!"

"Kori."


	7. Chapter 6 (Kori)

Kori watched as SandWings, IceWings, and SeaWings alike fought each other. She kept her eyes on her parents—Conch the SeaWing and Hail the IceWing. No one knew she was a hybrid yet, nor that she was half-siblings with Frostbite. But even he shouldn't know, at least not until they were much older and away from Queen Glacier.

She watched as Conch clawed at some SandWings, probably not really knowing which one would be Hail since they spent next to no time together, but Hail was bravely fighting of SeaWings. Kori thought about what she had asked a storyteller the day she met Frostbite.

'Why include the rest of Pyrrhia?' Kori thought. 'Because they're Burn, Blister, and Blaze, that's why. Even when they're smart, they're stupid.' She watched as a SandWing fell from the sky, and Queen Glacier darted through the sky. Kori strained her ears to try to hear what she was saying to Hail.

"I know what you've done," she hissed. "Your son was kind enough to tell me."

Hail looked in front of him disbelievingly, and didn't meet the queen's eyes.

"But because I can't upset him, nor kill his friend—your mistake—I'm just going to kill the things that started it." She finished.

"But—" Hail said, but was cut off as Queen Glacier sliced her claw through his neck.

'If she can kill her own tribe, then what hope is there for everyone else..?' Kori thought in despair as Hail's limp body fell from the sky into the deep blue sea beneath them all.

Across the battlefield a few moments later, Conch cried out. Kori glanced over there to see Queen Glacier do the same to her. Then she watched as Conch's body fall to join Hail's in the cold abyss. Moments after her body splashed into the ocean, the queen dove down and dipped her IceWing-and-SeaWing blood-soaked talons into the ocean as well, then dove back up to the battle.

'Smart dragon,' Kori thought. 'Making sure she's not found with IceWing blood on her talons. But what will she do to me..? After how far she's gone with my parents..?' Then what Queen Glacier told Hail whispered through her head: 'But because I can't upset him (that has to mean Frostbite, right?), nor kill his friend.' Queen Glacier must've promised Frostbite she wouldn't hurt Kori, to keep his full trust and her complete control over him.

But Kori wasn't taking any chances. If Queen Glacier thought that no one would tell Frostbite, or that no one knew, she was dead wrong. In fact, the thought of the queen dying under Kori's talons made her smile a little, now knowing that the feeling was most likely neutral. She shot into the sky keeping low to the ocean, dodging whatever fell from the sky.

She was going to talk to Frostbite—after she sent him a letter to meet him outside of the palace, of course. The last thing she wanted was for the queen to know she was watching her, and possibly even take it out of Frostbite.

Although, she highly doubted the queen would do that to her only animus, but it was better safe then sorry.

Kori started to fly faster once she knew she was out of sight. She was almost surprised no one else saw Queen Glacier murder someone from her own tribe, but then again she wasn't. It was already at the heat of the battle, so everyone else would've been too busy on battling to pay attention to what their queen was doing.

She dropped onto the snow and started running towards the palace. She was already thinking of the place and time she wanted to meet with her half-brother, and where she was going to find the paper and ink.


	8. Chapter 7 (back to Frostbite)

Frostbite walked back to his room from a little bit of battle training, which didn't last long since he was certain the instructor thought he would use his magic on him if he did something Frostbite didn't like. It was a day since the battle, though it was almost time for the special dinner.

He noticed a little note on his door, written with uneven handwriting that only belonged to Kori.

Frostie, there's something I need to tell you. Meet me at Hollowfang's Cave, as soon as you can. I'll be waiting with some food—if you come in time to eat any of it, of course. See you there, scavengerbrain. The one and only, Kori of the IceWings.

'Frostie,' Frostbite thought. 'She hasn't called me that in years. Back when we first met. Kori got it from Mother.' He couldn't go now, as he had to get ready for the dinner, but he could at least ask her what it was all about at the dinner, since he got the impression any IceWing that's alive and can walk need to go, although being an animus put him at the 'must go at all possible circumstances' list, beside the queen and Snowfall. But as he got ready, he thought of the location she wanted to meet him.

'Hollowfang's Cave,' Frostbite thought. Him and Kori, back when they were littler, had found a cave near the Great Ice Wall, and since back then they were showered with stories of NightWings, they gave it a NightWing-like name. Thus, Hollowfang's Cave. Frostbite even had a little drawing he did when they found it, like many other memorable memories of his past.

When he got to the feasting hall, it was already filled with dragons, but Frostbite could immediately spot a few IceWings from the rest.

Narwhal was talking to Queen Glacier about something, Snowfall was mocking other dragonets dancing together, and Kori leaned against the wall beside them, looking like she was waiting for somebody but didn't want to stay in the room full of dragons.

"Frostbite of the First Circle," a guard announced, and everyone fell silent, a few female IceWings his age swooned at his presence.

'Great,' Frostbite thought. 'It's going to be one of those events. Where I can't enjoy myself without being asked a bazillion questions first, and by then, it's time to leave.' He hated those kind of events, only because he was an animus. They were one of the things he wondered how different they would be if he wasn't one.

Queen Glacier looked up from talking to Narwhal and nodded at Frostbite. "Now that everyone is here, shall we begin?"

Everyone nodded in unison and found a seat. Frostbite found himself seated between his mother and Kori, but thankfully Snowfall was half a table away on her mother's left side. Soon servants came in with wonderful smelling foods, though they looked like they consisted of everyday things. Until a few servants started coming out with fruit platters, which looked like bananas and coconuts and a few desert fruits if Frostbite knew his fruits right. All if which IceWings must've gone a little into the Kingdom of Sand to get, possibly even further.

"Today we celebrate the Gift of Light," Queen Glacier announced from her mini-throne as the servants sat the silver platters and plates on the table. "Given to use by the animus Frostbite over two-thousand years ago." Everyone clapped vigorously, some even stomping their tails, which wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. "We also honor those who fought bravely yesterday, even those who could not make it to see the wonderful reward." About half of the dragons either sat up a little straighter or crouched down, but Frostbite searched the crowd for his father. It just now came to him that he may have died, although he didn't know why he cared.

A messenger came out and started listing names, while dragons around him leaned against the dragon beside them or mutter things like "this can't be true" and "impossible" before burying their heads in their talons. But one name caught Frostbite's attention.

"Hail of the First Circle,"

'It's my fault,' Frostbite thought, shaking his head slightly. But then the other half of him whispered: 'Why do I care? He never liked me; and I never liked him. I should be happy he's finally gone.' But he couldn't help thinking he was the cause. After all, their conversation the day before the battle seemed to have caught him off-guard, maybe he was wondering what Frostbite had saw so much he didn't see a SandWing or SeaWing attaching him and fight back.

"Thank you," Queen Glacier said after the messenger finished. "Now, we eat to celebrate what our great animus ancestor has done for us." She said is loud and announce-y, but didn't really sound that enthused herself. It almost made Frostbite wonder what she had done in the battle, and if it was something she was regretting.

Beside him, Kori growled under her breath. "She killed him." She whispered only loud enough for Frostbite to hear, but it probably wouldn't have mattered saying how loud everyone else got as they ate.

"What?" Frostbite asked, tilting his head.

"I'll tell you later, scavengerbrain." Kori whispered back. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about; but not here. Too many unwanted ears."

"That's ominous," Frostbite remarked. "By the way, why'd you call me Frostie?"

"When?" Kori asked, looking like that was the most weirdest question.

"On the letter you gave me, you called me Frostie." Frostbite replied.

"I did?" Kori said, as if she didn't actually know there was letter in general. It took her a moment to think about it, but then she seemed to remember. "Ooooooh, yeah, I did. I dunno. But I guess the last time I did write a letter to somebody, it was you back when I actually called you that. So maybe it was just instinct or something." She paused and looked down at her food. "But I guess it is a cute nickname. You should try to get Princess Snowfall to call you that, then everyone might think you actually liked each other."

"I highly doubt the princess would call me that." Frostbite said, although he was stuck on the sentence she said before then, about the nickname being cute. It was actually hard to believe Kori knew words like 'cute,' 'adorable,' 'wonderful' and everything alike, since she normally placed it with 'idiot,' 'scavengerbrain,' 'stupid,' that kind of thing. He actually had to think of his past where Kori would say those words instead of what she said, though that was almost impossible to believe, either.

"You two, eat." Blizzard commanded quietly. "Dragonets don't grow if they don't eat."

"So says the full grown dragon who's a little bit shorter then us." Kori pointed out.

"Treat your mother with respect." Another IceWing across the table scolded, lightly hitting both Kori and Frostbite with his tail. "I don't care if either of you are an animus or whatever, and it shouldn't matter."

"She's not my mother," Kori snapped.

'Uh oh,' Frostbite thought. Whoever this IceWing was, he obviously lived in one of the other palaces normally, because he should've already known Frostbite was an only child and that Kori lost her parents to the war—they did seem to be the palace's favorite dragonets to talk and gossip about, especially since Blizzard would talk about them and Frostbite was an animus.

"Whoever you are from whatever Circle, no offense, but this is just his mother, not mine. My mother died in the battle yesterday." Kori said, then put her talons to her mouth like she said something she wasn't supposed to.

"Who was that?" Blizzard asked, probably going through the list of dragons who died yesterday in her head.

Frostbite just cocked his head at his friend as she got up from her seat, shaking her head.

"I said too much…" She whispered, looking over at the door she added: "Frostbite, when you get the chance, meet me outside." Then she started quickly walking her way out, nodding her thanks to her queen as she went.

"Before you go anywhere, mister," Blizzard said, and Frostbite turned to her with a little sigh. "Eat. Now, as I watch you."

Frostbite resisted rolling his eyes and ate what was in front of him, then looked at his mother.

"Good," she said. "Now you can either wait for dessert or go see what Kori needs."

"Thank you, Mother." Frostbite said, getting up and giving her a thankful nod. "I'll be back as soon as I can, with Kori."

Then he rushed off in the direction Kori went in, stopping by the queen to give her his thanks and saying he will most likely be back soon. She oddly suggested taking a guard with him, but he politely declined.


	9. Chapter 8

Kori looked over at Frostbite as he walked over.

"There's a lot more about what happened yesterday that I can't tell you here." Kori said.

"Then where?" Frostbite asked, picking out that of the millions of questions he had.

"Where I told you to meet me." Kori replied, sounding a little impatient. "Look, when this dinner is over, meet me at Hollowfang's Cave, alright, scavengerbrain? You need to be here, I'm merely a small token Glacier uses to keep her power." She sighed and looked away. "Why get attached to things that end sometime, anyway?" Then Kori flew off.

Frostbite wondered why she said that last sentence, and noted how she didn't call Queen Glacier the queen. Then he sighed himself and watched as Kori's blue scales disappeared over the sparkling snow in the moon's light. Finally he turned around and went back into the room, where they have all finished eating and we're now enjoying music together.

Blizzard walked over to him with a gentle smile. "How about you go find Princess Snowfall?"

Another thing about Frostbite's mother, she thought that because they were arranged for marriage, him and Snowfall absolutely loved each other. At least most of the time, when they were in public. Any other time she would act like they were just friends.

But Frostbite knew better then to argue with his mother. "Yes, Mother." And he walked away to find Snowfall.

Oddly enough, she seemed to have been waiting for him on her seat.

"Read to pretend?" She asked.

Frostbite nodded, placing his wing out. "Shall we dance?" Snowfall placed her wing on top of his and let him bring her to were another group of dragons were waltzing.

They got into position and began, moving slowly to the music. Even though neither of them have really done this before, neither of them messed up. Frostbite did note how they were the youngest dragons there, but as they turned he also saw Blizzard and Queen Glacier smiling at them, and it was always a good thing to have your mother and the queen thinking good things about him.

"It snowed yesterday." Snowfall said, just as Frostbite was starting to notice the uncomfortable silence.

"Moons is it hard to have a conversation." Frostbite said honestly. It was true, him and Snowfall barely ever talked to each other, and when they did it was either odd conversations with tons of silence like this or them on the verge of yelling at each other. But it truly was nice to know neither one of them wanted the fate they were given. "But it would help if it didn't seem like the whole kingdom depended on every little moment we're together." As he said that, he was glad Kori wasn't watching him. She knew he was arranged for Snowfall, but he couldn't help but feel like there was something more between them, that didn't involve Snowfall.

"But I'm the princess and you're the animus." Snowfall said as if they were choosing titles. "So, every little moment we spend together has to be for the good of the kingdom. After all, if you die and no animus dragons are born before then, the Ice Kingdom is doomed to having to live animus-less until another blessing and or curse like you comes to a reasonable family worth of the queen's daughter's hand." She paused and looked up at the ceiling, then backed to were she was looking. "Sometimes I even wonder if we would become so desperate to bring animus dragons back, they'd bring one to the palace even if they were born from a Fifth Circle family." She said it with an odd disgust, and Frostbite could tell she wrinkled her snout. "I don't know why we didn't just bring your parents in war so much their never here and then just adopt you so then you can marry someone else."

"I don't really know either." Frostbite said. "But my mother is too small to actually fight without being dead weight, and my father…well, he died yesterday…"

"Hm?" Snowfall seemed to have thought for a moment. "Oh, right, Hail. Yes, he was obsoletely unacceptable, thus he was put in the front line. I was there."

Am I the only one who didn't go? Frostbite thought. He didn't actually know how much dragons went, since he stayed in his room the whole day, working on a few sheets his mother had given him. "Yeah…"

There was another bit of silence.

"You're right, Frostbite." Snowfall said. "It's harder than jumping over the moons to have a lasting conversation with you."

Frostbite dared to laugh a little. "To one dragon's view, or literally?" He asked with a smile.

"Both." Snowfall answered plainly. "But by all means, let's pretend. What were you doing yesterday? Remind me, what does your mother do again?"

…

It was the next morning. Surprisingly, the night before, him and Snowfall had been able to have a lasting conversation together, although their relationship didn't get any better or worse, they just simply repeated facts to each other everyone knew. The phrases "I'm the princess" and "I'm an animus" came up a lot—maybe a little too much.

Frostbite was already packing a few things to meet with Kori, although he didn't know why he did. He forced himself to put two daggers in a bag. It was hard to believe something bad enough would happen that he would need to kill something—or somebody—but it was always better safe than dead, then he tied the little bag to hang beside his front left leg, almost concealed beside his white scales.

Then he walked out the door, not knowing if he should hurry or take his time. He soon decided to quicken his pace.

Barely anyone was inside the palace, at least in the places he went in. He passed his mother's healing office and told her where he was going, then continued his way to meet with Kori.

I wonder what could possibly be important enough to talk to me about, but something that she won't tell me anywhere… Frostbite thought as he burst into the sky outside of the palace.


	10. Chapter 9

Frostbite was unsettled to see Kori watching for him, ripping up a piece of animal skin without looking at it.

"Took you long enough." Kori said, a little darker then normal, like how she was the day before the attack. "What'da need to do? Make sure your ice spikes were clean?"

"No, I was taking what I needed." Frostbite said, a little more harshly then what he wanted to. "Either way, what is it?" He landed on the snow beside his friend, and she suddenly hissed at him.

"Stay away from me." She hissed.

"First you want to talk to me, now you don't want me even a yard away from you?" He asked.

Kori growled. "I did that to get your attention, scavengerbrain. Now it's different. We're alone. Now tell me, O smart animus, why did you tell on me back there? To Glacier? Without telling me or asking for a answer? I thought we were friends, for moons' sake. Does IceWing loyalty really get in front of that?"

Her words were almost like icicles, making Frostbite flinch a little. 'Is this really what this is about?' He thought, feeling a little guilty that he hadn't actually thought of that. "I didn't actually think about that…" He confessed. "But I was just worried—"

"Then why didn't you confront me first, Frostbite? Huh?" Kori asked. Frostbite was well-aware of the hissing coming from her throat as frost breath threatened to come at him.

"I—I don't know!" Frostbite said desperately. "Just, please, Kori, don't freeze me to death. Please? I'm sorry I didn't tell you first—I'm sorry I spied on you in general. But…why do you care? Do you really not want Queen Glacier's attention? Or is there…something else..?"

The hissing stopped and Kori looked away. "She killed him."

"Who?"

"My mother—and our father."

"Our father?" Frostbite was trying to piece this all together, but none of them would fit. Him and Kori were half-siblings? He almost felt stupid now, thinking of everything they used to do together.

"Hail." Kori confirmed. "And my mother, Conch of the SeaWings."

Frostbite fell silent. Despite her odd scale coloring, he had never assumed she had mixed blood. Nor that his father would mate with a SeaWing. "You—you have to be joking, right, Kori..? Right?"

"I'm as serious as there's snow under our talons and as far as the eye can see." Kori hissed. "But don't tell anyone, since Glacier already knows."

A sudden spike of realization hit Frostbite. Of course… "S-she killed him, didn't she? Her own tribe member? H-her own relative..?"

Kori nodded slowly and met his gaze, her eyes full of anger, sadness, worry, and sympathy. "Glacier killed them. Both of them. I think I'm the only one that saw it. But she can't know I did." She paused. "She said she wouldn't hurt me, but…one day…she may ask someone else to."

Both of them knew very well who she meant the queen would ask to kill Kori one day, and Frostbite almost wanted to burry himself in the snow, never to be seen again at the thought.

"Me…" He forced himself to say, looking down at his talons. "I-I could kill somebody before they even knew it, without even looking…before they even knew they were a threat…"

"Yeah, but I know I'm a target." Kori said. "So that's why I'm leaving. Tonight."

"Tonight?" Frostbite repeated, feeling himself sink into an abyss never to come out of. Kori was the only thing keeping him willing to survive, always being there to talk to and just to plain mess around with, she was like a little sister to him—although, he guessed they kinda were, since their half-siblings apparently. More selfishly, she was the only thing between him and the queen and Snowfall.

"Yeah, and if you're smart," she said. "You'll either come with me or kill yourself now. The Ice Kingdom doesn't need animus dragons. No one does, not for use of war. SeaWings have animus dragons, and they're basically killing them so then Blister can win the war. I know this is going to sound ridiculously stupid, but…"

Frostbite laughed. "Please, my life is full of ridiculously stupid things. Including an arranged marriage without any real proof that the dragonets are going to be animus dragons." He was glad to see Kori grinning, so then he knew she could still do that.

"I…I don't want that to happen to you…" Kori said, her voice became desperate. "Please, Frostbite. Come with me. We can move to the Scorpion Den and I dunno…find some nice SandWings or other refugees of war? But please, I don't want to see you work for her anymore. She's killing her own tribe now, don't you see? Blizzard may be next. And…if you don't fulfill her needs…" Kori gulped. "She may kill you, too."

Frostbite wanted to disagree, because he couldn't imagine Queen Glacier killing him. Then an idea struck him. "Does Queen Glacier know you're a hybrid?"

"I'm pretty sure, why?" Kori asked cautiously. "You're not going to turn me in, are you?"

"What? No!" Frostbite said. "I'll tell her you're dead, you run away, she hopefully asks me to hunt after you not thinking you actually died, then I join you, returning to the Ice Kingdom to 'report' to her so then I can speak with my mother and such."

"I think we have a plan!" Kori said, smiling. "That should work. Just be careful about everything you do from now on, okay? And don't tell Blizzard the truth about me. She'll most likely tell the queen." Then added: "And by all the moons, do not tell Snowfall."

"Why would I?" Frostbite asked.

There was a moment of silence as Frostbite thought about that future, living in a war-free zone, at least until the war ends, then they could travel across the rest of the continent together, possibly even beyond. Maybe even some dragons who weren't related to them. For some reason, Frostbite imagined a female RainWing with a personality much like Kori's by his side, although he didn't know why.

"So deal?" He asked, putting his talon out.

"Deal," Kori said as she shook his talon. As she walked over to a place to start flying, their wings brushed and she twined her tail with his. "Just don't die on the way there, okay? Or at least give me a big enough clue that I can figure it out myself and personally kill Glacier with my own talons."

Frostbite nodded and she flew off, he watched as her blue body disappeared on the other side of the Great Ice Cliff. He sighed and started his fly back to the palace. It was hard for him to think of sibling love instead of what he swear he thought of her, but it was almost too weird to think of the meanings meant from his words to her since they met…the ones that seemed to say more then "you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world"—at least to him.

(By the way, remember that female RainWing- there's some foreshadowing involved there.)


	11. Chapter 10

Blizzard busily shined Frostbite's ice spikes while he sat impatiently against his will. He completely regretted letting her in his room while he was getting ready for an audience with the queen. But this was what he wanted.

Three weeks ago Kori left, and he'd told Queen Glacier that she died immediately. But he didn't expect it to take so long for her to respond. Though him and Kori were risking a few meetings near the Kingdom of Sand's border. If anyone saw them, it would be SandWings from Burn's side, but they wouldn't kill them on site. He didn't think.

"I wonder why Queen Glacier wants you." Blizzard thought aloud.

"So do I." Frostbite lied. His life has been full of that the past few weeks, but he almost always justified it with knowing that soon he'd be free. What Kori had told him really put him on edge, and he wasn't really up to getting to know if it was true or not.

"Done," Blizzard said as she stepped back from Frostbite. "Be nice to Princess Snowfall and Queen Glacier, and accept anything she wanted you to do, unless it is super, super bad and against IceWing rules. But I doubt the queen would want you to do something that's against the rules."

'Then you don't know what truly happened to Hail,' Frostbite thought, remembering what Kori had told him. "Yes, Mother." Then he got up and walked to the door. He expected his mother to say something else, but she didn't, so he just continued on.

…

Frostbite stood in front of Queen Glacier's throne. It was only them, which was disturbing. No guards or anything, not even Snowfall was in the room.

"Frostbite of the First Circle," Queen Glacier said after he sat up from bowing.

"Yes, my queen?" Frostbite asked. Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for…

"It has come to my attention that uncivil things are prowling through our fair Pyrrhia." The queen said. "Hybrids." She hissed right after, then looked at Frostbite thoughtfully. "I have a mission for you, Frostbite."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I want you to go out and kill any hybrid you find." That wasn't the thing Frostbite hoped to hear, but it was close enough. He had a backup he was going to do if she said that. "Then report back to me monthly."

"Of course, my queen." Frostbite said, but Queen Glacier wasn't done.

"I want you to use your animus magic."

"What?" Frostbite was shocked and confused. "No offense, Queen Glacier, but what about my gift to the IceWings? I can only use my magic once, to save my soul."

"You won't have a gift." Queen Glacier said simply. "The greatest gift you can give our tribe is animus blood, which you will give once you mate with Princess Snowfall."

"What is it you want me to enchant?" Frostbite asked.

"One of your scales," Queen Glacier responded. "So then you can't be hurt by any hybrid. I want you alive when it comes time to breed you into the royal family. Say it now, in front of me."

"Yes, Queen Glacier." Frostbite said, taking a deep breath and choosing his words carefully. This would be his first animus spell… He carefully put a talon on one of his talons. "Enchant the dragon this scale belongs to to be invincible to any kind of hybrid attacks, from special tribe abilities to normal talon attacks."

Frostbite felt odd, almost falling over. He had a feeling this was going to effect his whole life…this single spell could change it all…

"Thank you, Frostbite. Find your things, you leave tomorrow." Queen Glacier said.

Still feeling a little dizzy, Frostbite awkwardly bowed and walked away.


	12. Chapter 11 (2 years later)

Frostbite wandered through the Scorpion Den. Him and Kori shared a small tent not far from the gate, and he's put a few hybrids out of their misery. Of course, he didn't kill anyone with active families or anyone that wanted to live, he just couldn't pull himself to do it, just the ones who wanted to die. Which was surprisingly a lot, at least in the Kingdom of Sand, or, the Scorpion Den, since he couldn't really go anywhere else.

And he was well aware of the good feeling he got from killing them, too. It made him shiver at the thought of it, that he started to enjoy killing things so much he would kill his prey slower just to watch it suffer.

'The spell I cast on myself,' Frostbite thought. 'It's making me go more insane by the minute…if I can't find someone who can help me soon…I'm as good as a murderer—more then I am now.'

Occasionally he did ask around to know when the last SandWing animus was spotted (or the last animus in general), but that was over a thousand years ago back when the Darkstalker was still alive.

Frostbite constantly worried about his soul, and what would happen if he snapped in front of someone he loved—like Kori. Or worse, at one of the many house parties they attended together, because apparently two IceWings that ran away from the Ice Kingdom were so rare they were popular, although they both kinda did it to survive.

"You." Frostbite said, turning to a shopkeeper and regretted his tone after he flinched. "Oh, sorry."

"Y-yes, Frostbite?" The shopkeeper asked. One thing Frostbite didn't like it here, not including the freakishly hot sun, was that all the shopkeepers seemed to fear him ever since he snapped at one of them in one of his 'losing my soul' fights, which were becoming so often now he wanted to kill himself before he could hurt anyone he loved.

"Can you get me something you drink, please?" Frostbite asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Of course," the shopkeeper said, fixing Frostbite's usual drink.

"So the IceWing shows." A unfamiliar voice said from behind him, and he slowly turned around to face it.

It was an obvious hybrid, by her NightWing dark scales yet SeaWing webbed talons.

"Hello," Frostbite said calmly. The best thing to do in situations like this was to play it low until you knew what you were dealing with, and that was always what he did with hybrids before he decided whether or not to kill them.

"What makes you think you rule this place?" The mysterious hybrid hissed.

"I dunno, what makes you think I rule this place?" Frostbite said.

"Being smart, huh?" The mysterious hybrid said. "They fear you, and out here where there's no rules, that's the best thing you can possibly have."

"Well then I guess I'm lucky." That was the wrong thing to say.

The hybrid jumped onto Frostbite, pinning him to the ground.

"Say goodbye, IceWing."

Frostbite was surprised to feel a bit of pain as the hybrid ran her claw lightly across his front talon, and he winced.

"Didn't think I could hurt you?" She asked mockingly.

"Well, yeah, kinda." Frostbite replied.

"I'm an animus, too." The hybrid said.

"An-another animus?" Frostbite asked, speechless. He figured, beside the SeaWing animus dragons, he was the only one. But here there was, another animus that may help him—if she wasn't so caught up in trying to kill him.

"Yep." The hybrid said. "Illusion, the SeaWing-NightWing hybrid animus. Frostbite the animus of the IceWings, prepare to die."

"Please don't kill me!" Frostbite said, although he didn't mean it to sound like he was a dragonet—well, a newborn dragonet, he still had another two years until he was fully grown—but he kept sounding like it. "Please! There's too many dragons in this world I'm not willing to give up yet!"

"Well sucks for you," Illusion said. "Now die already!"

"No," Frostbite said, forcing all his strength into pushing himself up and pinning Illusion down. He got close to her ear and hissed. "Why do you want to kill me? I've never even seen a NightWing hybrid, mainly SandWing, and none of them really knew anyone else."

"I'm only doing what Thorn should be." Illusion replied. "But because of your fancy animus powers, she won't do the right thing by bringing the Scorpion Den into a war between IceWings and SandWings."

"And you will?" Frostbite asked, backing off of her a little bit. He saw a sudden flash of him over the body of Illusion, her breathing slowing to a stop and bleeding from several cuts. 'I won't kill her unless I have good reason,' he tried to tell himself, but the darker parts of his soul were saying otherwise. He forced himself off of Illusion. "Go. Before I kill you. Now."

"Scavengerbrain," Illusion muttered. "Why should I? Huh?"

"You heard rumors of what I could do," Frostbite said. "But have you ever wondered what the price for that spell was?" Illusion froze, deep in thought, and Frostbite got off her and started to pace around her in a circle. "My soul. Piece by piece, it's being turned into darkness. Day by day, the urge to kill even by best friend gets larger, for no reason but for the 'joy' of killing her. Neither me, nor the queen, realized how much hybrids there are in Pyrrhia, no matter where they hide, no matter where they go. I found out almost a fourth of all the NightWings are hybrids, all being related to the Darkstalker. So here I am, almost on the verge of going insane. All because of this stupid spell, this stupid decision, the whole reason I'm in this stupid desert."

"Well I ain't stickin' around to watch that happen." Illusion said. "May not sometimes, but I want my life right now. See ya, sucker." Then she flew off.

Frostbite needed to go to a place with no dragons, before he lost it. But he knew the perfect place, a small oasis on the unused area of the Scorpion Den, because dragonbite vipers were famous there. He'd never seen one, but he didn't tell anyone that so then he had some peace and quiet.

He'd come back to get his drink after his head cleared up a little.

(And that's the end! Thanks for reading this! And, believe it her not, Frostbite's story isn't over, either! Look out for The Deadly Dragonet, this book's sequal!)


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